, 1887-01-13
PASTE JEweLRy IS POPULAR.
home OF the Clever limitations and How
They arc Manufactured

home OF The Clever limitations and How
They are Manufactured.
The number of imitation diamonds
worn these days is enormous said a
fashionable jeweler on Broadway to a re-
porter.
what limitations are most worm
THE double diamond, n clever imita-
ton produced by splitting a worthless or
defective stone and backing it with tinfoil.
Diamonds OF this kind nave to be carefully
counted or else detection will be ensy.
TIL business Of intensifying the sparkle OF
II pale, cheap diamond is 0 reduced to
II science. Gems are frequently split in
two, n deeper tone of color introduced and
they are joined together again, producinga
stone that has a beautiful fire and that
which sells for three or four times its
original value. The 'doublet' business Is
extremely profitable, but, of course, no
reputable dealer can afford TO sell any
without injuring his trade and reputation.
A lapidary, one Zocolino, invented the
'doublet' many years ago. He used a bit
of crystal MS q bottom to n makeup, and
painted 1t with transparent glue. He then
Joined together two cheap thin stones, and
produced n gem that appeared finer than
the real. 1t was not long before his
method was detected.
The quartz gems are popular and come
next to the 'doublets' in clever counterfeit.
They are gems OF course Of their kind, but
not what they are often sold for. Quartz
can stand the test Of the file, which glass
cannot do, hence its availability. There
are other stones and certain varieties of
topaz which are rs hard as diamonds; and
being colorless they are frequently cut and
polished and passed as diamonds Of the
first water. OF late colorless gem material
has gone up in prices, owing to the de
mand from the bogus diamond manufact
urcrs. Then there are the paste diamonds,
so easily taken by amateurs for genuine.
The composition of paste gems Is n mix
ture Of violin glass and borax. These
manufactured stones are very hard to de
tect, and sometimes find their way into
rich families who are unwittingly imposed
upon. The glittering gems that can be
seen on Broadway after the matinees are
over, half the time are clever limitations,
either doublets, quartz or paste.
But at the swell society balls | confess
the gems worn there by the wealthy are
genuine. Extremely wealthy people are
not easily imposed upon; they always have
u jeweler who examines carefully their
gems before they are purchased. The very
moderately well-to-do people are often de
ceived, and young men who want diamonds
to sparkle before their sweethearts. Some
OF them, though, go boldly and ask for the
limitations and disport them as genuine.
Mock pearls are frequently seen, too, but
the diamond Is initiated more thar any
precious stone. The ruby is sometimes
manufactured from n recipe which com
prises twenty parts of anthony and glass,
800 Of %strass, "A half each of purple OF
Cassium and gold. Aventurine is also u
gem glass frequently used in limitations.
These limitations of course have some effect
upon the sale of genuine gems, but not to
an extent hat is ruinous. Think, though,
that all jewelers. who sell limitations should
deal exclusively in such goods and 50 nd
vertise. The harm comes from the attempt
10 palm off counterfeits for real stones. -
New York Mail and Express.